Davis-Standard buys Battenfeld-Cincinnati parent Extrusion Technology Group

Pawcatuck, Conn.-based Davis-Standard L.C.C. acquired Bad Oeynhause, Germany-based Extrusion Technology Group to complement and diversify its product portfolio.

Davis-Standard produces extrusion equipment and converting systems for flexible packaging and films, rigid packaging and sheet, and products like conduit for infrastructure and industrial uses.

ETG's portfolio covers extrusion equipment and downstream processing equipment under the Battenfeld-Cincinnati, Exelliq—formerly known as Greiner Extrusion—and Simplas brands. The company, founded in 1943, also makes tooling and dies for the pipe, profile, film and sheet markets. It operates in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Davis-Standard, founded in1848, employs about 1,500 people and operates out of manufacturing and technical facilities in the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

ETG has 1,200 employees with the main operating sites in Bad Oeynhausen, Kempen, Germany; Vienna and Nussbach, Austria; Foshan City and Shunde, China; McPherson, Kan., and Meadville, Pa., in the United States; Trhové Sviny, Czech Republic; and Arcisate, Italy.

All ETG employees will be retained, Davis-Standard CEO Giovanni Spitale said in an email, adding officials at his firm have long admired ETG's capabilities and products.

"We have always viewed the brands within ETG as innovative and customer-focused, similar to us," Spitale said. "Battenfeld-Cinncinati's capabilities in large-diameter extrusion are impressive, and the downstream equipment from Exelliq has a reputation for high-quality products."

The ETG acquisition will be highly complementary and diversifying for Davis-Standard, giving the "fast-growing enterprise" a broader and deeper product portfolio, Spitale also said.

Davis-Standard serves a variety of markets, including agriculture, automotive, construction, health care, energy, electronics, food and beverage packaging, and retail.

"We are very diversified in the end markets that we serve and have the benefit of significant scale. Different end markets are driven by different factors, so participation in multiple end markets is generally a growth driver," Spitale said.

The ETG business will be a standalone segment that continues to serve its customers with additional support and capabilities from the broader Davis-Standard platform, Spitale said.

"We believe that the combination of our world-class engineering capabilities, our global scale, and the sharing of best practices will only enhance our ever-expanding value proposition in the extrusion value chain," he added.

Terms of the deal between Davis-Standard owner Gamut Capital Management LP and ETG entities controlled by the Dutch investor Nimbus weren't disclosed.

ETG CEO Gerold Schley will join the Davis-Standard senior leadership team and continue to manage the ETG business and its employees after the deal closes.

"I am exceptionally proud of the growth and success that we have achieved across all of ETG's businesses under the stewardship of Nimbus. This merger is a great outcome that we believe will create a best-in-class, diversified global supplier of highly engineered extrusion equipment," Schley said in a news release.

The Nimbus website says its 2016 partnership with one of the ETG brands, Battenfeld-Cincinnati, led to a focus on developing new extrusion products and applications and streamlined its global operation.

Through Davis-Standard, Spitale said he and Schley will be partners "as we invest further to accelerate growth and our global capabilities."

"The Davis-Standard presence in North America is additive to our new relationship, as is the ETG presence in Europe. We plan to utilize the combined footprint of Davis-Standard, Maillefer, and ETG to maximize our customer service levels," Spitale said.

Maillefer is a Davis-Standard company that offers wire, cable, pipe and tube production technology.